It was a busy weekend all round. Not much accomplished but it was fun. We started out Friday evening because it was sunny and mild, by grilling the first steaks of the season! Nothing better than a nice juicy steak cooked to perfection over the coals (okay, they aren't real coals, but it works). We plan to build a wood burning BBQ at some point so that's something to look forward to.
On Saturday, after work, I came right home to help with Saturday nights dinner. Our new friends Charles and Laura were coming over and we had a lovely evening. It was their first visit to our house and I think they enjoyed it. Our menu went something like this:
Homemade Lobster Ravioli in a White Wine Saffron Cream Sauce
Caesar Salad
Red Wine Braised Lamb Shanks
Whipped Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Medley of baby vegetables
Tarte Tatin with French Vanilla Ice Cream
Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of everything when it was plated. But everything turned out great and we all enjoyed it. We had a lovely evening and chatted till quite late.
Sunday morning dawned nice a sunny, although with a cool breeze so we took the opportunity to go outside and spend a bit of time cleaning up the yard. We gathered and raked up all (or at least most) of the the loose branches that have fallen off the trees over the winter. It makes things look much tidier. Then after some breakfast we were off to a local event promoting the Pisquid River. Since we look at it every day out our window we thought we should attend. Brenda and Bernie had gone into town to take Meghan(1) into the airport. Sadly her visit has come to an end. I called Brenda and told her our plans and we would get together later.
The program involved a 2 hour hike from 11:00 till 1:00 which would end up at a local organic farm. The beginning of the hike was at the south end of Dromore Road but unfortunately when we tried to get there, we ran into some serious mud, that would have been a challenge for a truck, much less my little car, so we turned around and headed to the other end of the road, but unfortunately I couldn't remember what road to take off the highway, so we gave up. We headed over to the farm (which is quite close to our house) to see what was going on there. The plan was to leave there and head out on the trail and meet up with the walkers and come back with them as the BBQ and smelt fry weren't scheduled to begin until 1:00. There were already a number of people there but we headed out on the trail instead.
Unfortunately we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended back at the farm. So I suggested we go back and see if they needed any help with the food. That turned out to be a good choice as we both ended up cooking. Lloyd was trying smelts in a cast iron pan on one BBQ along with hot dogs and hamburgers and I was doing dogs and burgers on another grill.
We didn't stop cooking until 3:00. Then we went inside and helped a bit with the clean up. It turned out to be much more than we bargained for but we had a great time and they estimate there must have been close to 300 people who attended. It was a bit cool with a slight breeze but it was sunny and a wonderful day to spend outdoors. We even had the pleasure of a young man who played the fiddle for a while and then the bagpipes. I think I've found my piper for the conference in 2004!
We were much later getting back than expected so when we got home I called Brenda. They were just returning from a bicycle ride. We met at their place shortly after as we had all earned a cold beverage. Along with some cheese and crackers and wine and Jack Daniels, we heard all about Bernie's trip to Boston - an eye opening experience given the recent events at the Boston Marathon.
We didn't plan to stay really long but Brenda had some leftovers and after they were heated we were happy to enjoy a delicious meal with them. Lloyd had other places to be so he left after supper and Brenda and I got down to the task of more organizing for the church breakfast next Sunday. We're now one step closer to being prepared but still lots to do in the coming days but I think it should be a lot of fun.
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